


Inktober 2020

by CaptainMeriderp



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: As Inktober continues I will add more, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Family Feels, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, OC mentions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26755732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainMeriderp/pseuds/CaptainMeriderp
Summary: Here will be a collection of my drabbles for Inktober 2020.I will add the prompt at the beginning of each story, and I hope you will enjoy throughout the course of the month.
Relationships: Argentina/England (Hetalia), More to be added - Relationship





	1. Music Room

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Inktober Day 1: Music  
> Character(s): England, OC Argentina mention, OC Falkland Islands mention  
> Word Count: 575
> 
> Work, family, a world in turmoil. It is all Arthur can do to keep himself sane with everything going on around him. Until he decides to step foot into a room that he hadn't been in in a long time, to meet with an old friend.

The room at the far left end of the hallway on the second floor, the dark wood door closed off for what felt to be years. How long had it been since Arthur been in this particular room? Too long really. Between work, global pandemonium, and family affairs at home it has only been growing more increasingly difficult to break away for simple little hobbies that he enjoyed indulging in.

Of course he knew the same was for Eva as well, since the birth of the triplets now toddlers, she rarely either had time for her own endeavors either. Of course their eldest daughter had been a great help whenever they both had to be out of the home for work at the same time, on the other hand Elizabeth was a teenager now. It wasn't fair to her either to have to feel as though she is having to constantly babysit her younger siblings. She had to grow up far quicker than either of them wanted her to.

Arthur had to admit, he truly missed the exquisite melody of the piano reverberating through the house on a nearly daily basis. That, mixed in with the strums of either the bass or his guitar, whichever he felt like at that particular moment. He supposed that's why he stood at this door, soft creaks filling his ears upon being pushed open. Making a mental note to oil the hinges later, the Brit stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

The walls were painted a deep copper, covered with old band posters and records from their punk phase; a few of his favorite show guitars and basses hung in a row near the window. An old piano sat in the corner, a present for his now wife when he asked Eva to move in with him. It saddened him to know that it had hardly been touched as of late, though it wasn't covered in a layer of dust as he thought it would be. Likely she came in this room recently and cleaned, such was at least a reasonable assumption.

What really caught Arthur's attention was exactly what he was looking for, a large black case covered in stickers of the past propped up near the piano. A small smile began to form, taking a seat in front of it.

"Hello there old friend..."

Pulling the case to the floor and unlatching the hinges, opening the lid to reveal what was inside. Within the mouth of the case was a beautiful deep red, blue, and white guitar with the face taking the appearance of the UK flag. Still pristine as far as he could tell, likely it would need tuning and maybe a new string or two. Easy fixes, both of them.

Arthur wanted nothing more than to bring over his amp and play, but he couldn't chance waking up the children from their nap. For now, he would assess what was needed to make sure his faithful guitar was in proper working order again. After all, Alfred had already agreed to watch them on Saturday night. All he would have to do is tell Eva to bring out that leather mini skirt and fishnets that he loved so much, for he had a gig for the first time in what felt to be years.

At least for one night, they could fully let loose and act like the teenagers that they used to be.


	2. A Million Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inktober Day 2 Prompt: Nostalgic
> 
> With the world essentially burning around him, Alfred once again makes a trek up to his attic for a quiet place to think. Upon doing so, the burning need for advice from an old friend arises.

Had it always been drafty up in the attic? Alfred in a way every year seemed to forget that he would always tell himself that he would get it fixed, and every year he would forget until the next year. Everything held in that room was covered in a thin layer of dust, forgotten until he chose to come up there to at least attempt to clean. As with everything else pertaining to it, nothing would ever get done. The American couldn't bring himself to even get rid of anything, everything telling a story that he constantly needed to remind himself of where he came from and just how far he has come.

This time however, it was different.

Each time Alfred ascended that ladder over the course of the past few years, it was just to think. To give him that full kick-in-the-face reminder that the direction that his home was going wasn't what he stood or fought for. He didn't start a Revolution and break away from Arthur for this.

He hated it. Hated it more than words could even describe.

Even now as he pulled down the string for the stairs and made that climb as he had so many times before. With phone in his pocket, a cord leading from it to the earbuds nestled in his ears. He wondered at least briefly what led to this sudden bout to go up there again. Then as the start of the music came again, he had his answer.

A certain song. One that was now playing on repeat.

The light creaks of wood underneath his tennis shoes echoed through the room once he stepped foot into the attic, ignoring the faint cloud of dust swirling around his feet as he walked toward the back of the room where the objects of this push laid in the one trunk that was at least more well-kept in relevance to everything else.

_They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy_  
_They can say, they can say I've lost my mind_  
_I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy_  
_We can live in a world that we design...._

Those words came right along as Alfred took a seat directly in front of the trunk, pushing the lid up to reveal what was inside. Relics of his past, important ones that over the years as he found them, placed them directly into this box just to make sure they wouldn't get lost again. Wooden hand-painted toy soldiers, his old uniforms from the various wars that he had fought in, time-stained letters, old photographs, and other artifacts that he deemed important enough to be put into here for safe keeping. His old Brown Bess he had long since finally put on display above his fireplace.

_'Cause every night I lie in bed_  
_The brightest colors fill my head_  
_A million dreams are keeping me awake_  
_I think of what the world could be_  
_A vision of the one I see...._

"God...What happened to me dude?"

Alfred more spoke to himself as he reached forward and removed several old photos from within, a small yet sad smile crossing onto his features. While they were pictures taken in such trying times, the circumstances were at least in a way better than how things were now even during the middle of a World War. Several of them were with Arthur after they finally set their differences aside and became friendly again, little did he know at the time that the Brit was going through another form of personal hell either. Not just from the bombings on London either. Black and white photos, a few of the war front. A couple where he was pretty sure Francis took them while they went out drinking on various nights. At least in those they were smiling, able to forget everything else for at least a few hours.

Now, Alfred was going through much of the same but on another level. He was dealing with a takeover in his own country that he could do little about. He felt so... Powerless. All the strength in the world, one of the most powerful Nations in the world. There was nothing he could do to stop what was happening.

"When did I start to become a nostalgic old man? Damn... And fuck this song for getting me to think like this."

Even though he said it, he didn't reach for the phone to change it. The worst part of it was that it did get him to think. Thinking about when he was younger, of course relative to some of the others, he was still very young. But the past few years especially with this last year made him feel far older than he actually physically was.

It sucked. It more than sucked.

He had so many dreams, so many ideas and visions for what he wanted for his country. He fought for them. Won for them. On top of that, fought in another to reinstate those ideals. While some of them had come true, many of them had started to become nothing more than nightmares. The ideas that were at once so bright, colorful, hopeful. Now, they were nothing more than bleak, dank, rotting as the country was being turned upside down and torn apart.

Alfred had seen the pitying looks on the World Zoom Meetings, he wasn't naive. He knew what it was for. Sure he had gone to actually go see a select few people through all of this, for the most part, aside for his regular work he had barely left his house in months.

A heavy, frustrated sigh escaped from him, glancing briefly back down at the photos. He needed someone to talk to right now, and only one person came to mind.

_A million dreams is all it's gonna take_  
_A million dreams for the world we're gonna make...._

As those final words rang through his ears, Alfred removed his phone from his pocket. Turning off the music before removing the earbuds from his ears and from the socket in his phone, he went to his most recent call list. He knew he was likely busy, but at least he was always willing to talk when Alfred needed him the most.

After pressing the green button and putting it on speaker phone, he set his phone down onto his lap as it rang only a couple times before that familiar click came. Alfred grinned at the sounds coming from the other end of the phone, the sound of water splashing and a kid's giggling. Looks like he caught bath time.

"Hello?" Alfred couldn't have been more relieved to here that grumpy British lilt than he was at that moment.

"Hey... Old man... I'm sorry that I kinda clearly caught you at bath time but... Can you talk?"

"I suppose... What do you need?"

"Just... I need to talk right now..."

The tone in Alfred's tone didn't leave Arthur, shaking his head with a sigh as he put the phone on speaker himself and set it down on top of the toilet next to him. If he was going to try and talk to and comfort Alfred all while wrestling a precocious toddler, he didn't want to run the chance of his phone falling into the bath and being ruined in the process.

"Uncie Alwed! I loe you!"

Those words were what caught Alfred off guard, which one was it? Alice? Yeah, it sounded like Alice. His smile grew more sincere, shaking his head briefly. "Hey kiddo... Love and miss you too, I plan to come for a visit soon. Behave for your daddy, ok?"

The giggling on the other end continued, but it sounded as though the fight had died down. If it was one thing Alfred was good at, it was handling kids. And god did he miss those kids. The triplets were growing so fast, and Lizzie was a teenager now. But he had to hand it to Arthur... He got the second chance at raising a family like he wanted, and he had to admit, he was actually doing a good job alongside his wife.

"You know you're going to have to visit soon now, don't you?"

"Yeah, I know dude... I'd like that. But... Yeah..."

"Yes, right... What did you need to speak with me about?"

"You got the time?"

"Yes I have time for you Alfred, of course especially right now. What do you need to talk to me about?"

Alfred couldn't have been any more grateful for the Brit than he was at that exact moment, even when he was dealing with his own problems and raising his own family, he still made sure he had time for him. He was going to plan to go see them that next week, and try to show his gratitude at least in small ways. This was one of those times when he felt like a little kid again, looking up to and looking for advice and guidance from the man who raised him. While everything seemed so bleak and dark now, at least it was the little things like this that brought the color back.

He needed his family right now... And they were always there for him when he needed them.


End file.
